Shoe upper lacing machine with eccentrically mounted needles



Oct. 21, 1952 A. A. RIVINGTON 7 SHOE UPPER LACING MACHINE WITH ECCENTRICALLY MOUNTED NEEDLES Filed Oct. 19, 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Invenlor Ari/mar A. Pz'uzhyion Oct. 21, 1952 A. A. RlVlNGTON 2,614,278

SHOE UPPER LACING MACHINE WITH ECCENTRICALLY MOUNTED NEEDLES Fil ed Oct. 19, 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 l0 l7 10 @E V I0 17 l 35 F".4 9

Inventor flr'fizur A. Piuz nyfon B hi Air Patented Oct. 21, 1952 t PATENT QFFI(1E ,HOE-:UPPERiLAQINGiMAGHINEWITH ECCENTRIQALLY MOUNTED NEEDLES Art-hut Alan *Bivington, Leicester, England,'assigmor to""-Unite'd LShoe Machinery Corporation, .tElemin'gton, N. 5 .1., a corporation-of New'J-ersey Application octohersm, 1951, Serial No.:.2.52,,105 f In Great-Britain November 11,1950 f needles by 'looper fingers and the eyelet holes of two shoes upper parts :may he impaled by the loop supporting -ne'edles s'o that the needles :and loops of cord project through the eyelet "holes. The :cord -is then passed through the :loops at the topposite-s'i'deof the work :from that at which the -looper fingers act and the ends of the cord are knotted together; The two parts "of the :upper ithen completely laced together :are thrust .by the *l'ooper :fingers 'rfrom the meedles.

in zthe machine disclosed :in said zpatent :t-he axes :of the :needles :all :are :alined .lin aone iflat plane and eyelethol'es in shoe :upperpartsausualdyzlie :in a straight line :so that :no difiiculty :is experienced in impazling the :holes :on theineedl'es.

However, it has been found :that the .ieye'le't holes in tso'mepairs :of shoe upper parts do not formza straight row but lie .in :a somewhat (curved row. in :suchcases :difiiculty may be experienced in impaling the :eyeletfholes "on the needles, particularly,if the'materialni the shoe upper \parts is relatively stifi. V

"One vof the various objects of the invention is to .enable shoe upper parts .ihav'ing eyelet holes therein lyingin curved or irregularly shaped rows readily to be laced together in a machine having a row of needles adaptedsimultaneously to :be :engaged by the eyelet holes.

iffheiillustrative machine hereinafter described, which is generally similar to the machine disclosed in said patent, has four needles instead :of five, corresponding to the needles "referred to slightly lowerby about one-sixteenth'of an inch than the two :center needles. With this arrangement the needles are so positioned that eyelet holes which lie in a somewhat curved row in the shoe upper parts may readily .be im- =paled by the needles without distorting the shoe J4 iClai-ms. (Cl. "1 15 upper ,parts "or straining the needles excessively. 7 As disclosed in "the patent above "referred "to th'eirow iof'needles is mounted on spindles "which 'are rotated about their own axes through ninety degrees during operation of the machine-so thaflin one position 'of the needles the lacing "cord maybe laid. across the "needles by amorafeeding needle, similar to that referred to at "8'6 in -the patent, and drawnby*the lo'oper*fingers *into "their "side opening-s. When the n'e'e'dlesfare rotated jinto their other positions the "cord-feedi-ng needle may pass through the loops "carried on "the needle -row- "after the work has been impaled. The two =endmost needles '-in the illusti'ative nia'chine hereinaft'er -desoribed are *eccentrieall-y mounted in their spindles. When thefour needles are in position to have the "cord laid across them each 'endmost needle -lies at one *side df theaXis of' its spindle and the'four needles o'fthe row all lie in 'the same'general planmwith their hooks uppermost. When the' four'meedle spindles have 'been Lrota'ted through-ninety de :grees trom :thi's position the needles' are in position to ":have a cunved row df e'yelet'iholes placed :upon them and the two endm'ost needle's, :owingto their-eccentricity, have :been movedinto lower .positions than the two middle meedle'stand -lie below the .:axes :of "their ispindles so that the work may :readily ;be applied to zthe needles. ."After the work :has been :applied zto ithe needles Ethe cordefeedingrneedle .is cau'sedito :pass ithrough the portions of the :loops which :lieiin .-'front :Io'f the work, the two endmost needles, :or altany irate theiriront end portions'zbeingbrought up into line with the two .center needles-(sodthat :the :rcordl 'feeding needle :c'an ipass through the loops.) ib-y a member,eoorresp'ondin'g to the meni- .ber .z re'ferred to as the main :menibe'r 1177411 the prior patent. "l his' membenas it is :moved irearwardly to press the work on to the "needles, bonds *!the front :portions of the two *endmost needles into linewith the center needlesfi r I Theselandother deatur'es of t'he inventionpas hereinafter described and elaimed will readily be :apparent from the following -detai'l'ed description and accompanying drawings which:

=1 is a /i'ew inrightsside elevation of the i'orward portion of a 'shoe upper lacing' maehine embodying the features of the present invention; Fig. 2 :is a view in dront elevation of theisame parts-of .themachine; a

Fig. 3 is "a detail view on an enlarged ssoafle of the lacing needles and their supporting into alinement during the lacing operation; w J a Fig. 6 is a detail view in side elevation of the row of needles showing the action of the needle deflector; and

Fig. 7 is a right side view on a reduced scale, partly in section, of certain portions of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1 taken while the needle deflector is acting.

The illustrated machine is generally similar to that disclosed in the Smith patent above identifled. The patented machine i equipped with a straight row of five parallel eyelet entering needles identified at 25 in the patent. In the present machine, however, there are only four eyelet entering needles. These needles have mountings in which they are clamped at their rearward ends in a row of spindles mounted in the machine for rotary movement between two limiting position at an angle of approximately ninety degrees to each other.

Referring more particularly to the drawings the eyelet entering needles are indicated at I0 and are formed at their sides near their outer end with slots or eyes [2 (see Fig. 6) which extend lengthwise of each needle fora short distance and open at the side of each needle with a diametral throat to receive and retain a lacing cord when the cord is pressed laterally against the needle and is carried rearwardly toward the clamped end of the needle. In one rotary position each needle has its throat alined with the others in the row. In the other rotary position each throat extends at right angles to the row. The spindles are illustrated at I4 and are rotatably mounted in a portion of the machine frame, indicated at I6. At their forward ends the spindles carry chucks comprising needle mountings, the center ones of which are indicated at I1.

At the rearward end of each spindle I4 is a crank 18 (see Fig. 1) having a crank pin 20 by which each spindle is rotated by mechanism including a slotted actuating bar 22 running across the rearward end of all the crank pins 20, which crank pins are received within the slot of the bar. The ends of the bar are pivotally supported in the extremities of a pair of angle levers, one

of which is illustrated at ,24, fulcrumed on a flxed pin 26 and engaged at their upper ends within sockets provided in a reciprocable plate 28. The plate 28 projects forwardly and supports at its forward end a set of cooperating looper finger 30. Each looper finger has its outer end bent, downwardly across the row of needles and. is interposed between an adjacent pair of needles. The arrangement of the needle rotating mechanism is such that after the lacing cord is engaged with the needles the looper fingers are retracted to form a series of loops in the lacing cord supported by the needles. The needles during this retraction are rotated through an angle of ninety degrees to a position with the throat of each needle at right angles to the row of needles to enable the operation Of lacing the upper to be completed. As thus far described the machine is the same as disclosed in the Smith patent to which reference may be had for a better understanding.

If an attempt is made to impale a curved row of eyelets in an upper, such a is indicated at 32 by the broken lines in Fig. 4, on the straight row of needles of the patented machine, either the needles will be deflected from their proper positions in an irregular manner or. the upper will be distorted from its flat condition so as to interfere with the proper operation of the machine. In any event it may be difficult to apply the eyelets to the needles so that special attention by the operator may be required and loss of time may result.

To enable easy application to the eyelet entering needles l0 in the present machine of a shoe upper having eyelets aranged in a row with curved formation, as shown by the dot dash line 34 of Fig. 4, the two center chucks I! provide a mounting for their needles concentric to the axis of rotation of the respective spindles but the two end needles of the row are clamped in eccentric mounting chuck 35 on their spindles, the eccentric chucks providing an oifset for the needles from the axes of their supporting spindles by about one sixteenth of an inch. The direction of offset displacement of the end needles is the same and at right angles to the needle row when the needles are in their rotary position with their cord receiving throat at right angles to the needle row- When the needles are in rotary positions with their throats in alinement with the needle row they are ready to have applied to them the lacing cord, all the needles being alined in the same general plane. In the latter rotary positions of the eyelet entering needles ID the lacing cord is applied to them by the movement of a straight cord feeding needle 36 across the ends of the eyelet entering needles. After applying the lacing cord to the eyelet entering needles the cord feeding needle retract and the looper fingers are carried rearwardly to form loops in the cord. At the same time the needles l0 are given a ninety degree rotation from the positions of Fig. 3 to those of Fig. 4 and the machine comes to rest. In the last mentioned rotary positions of the needles ID the throats of the cord receiving slots lie at right angle to the general line of the needle row and the needles are ready to impale the eyeletsof the shoe upper 32 (Fig. 4). If the upper has its row of eyelets disposed in the curved line 34 as illustrated, the two end needles being displaced downwardly by the eccentricity of the mounting 35, they are in positions where they readily will enter the two end eyelets of the upper without distorting the upper or deflecting the needles.

After the upper has been applied to the eyelet entering needles ID a main upper positioning member 38 is moved downwardly and rearwardly to cause the shoe upper to be disposed correctly along the lengths of the needles. The member 38 also is arranged to engage beneath the front end portions of the two end needles and to deflect these end portions until they are level with those of the two center needles. The cord feeding needle 36 then passes a second time across the eyelet entering needles through the loops of cord on the eyelet entering needles, as illustrated in Fig. '7. The two end needles are reduced somewhat in thickness in a heightwise direction near their supporting spindles in order that they may more readily be deflected upwardly by the positioning member 38.

After the cord feeding needle 36 has passed through the loops of cord on the eyelet entering needles Hi the cord is gripped, out off and the two ends of cord in the shoe upper parts are knotted together by mechanism similar to that disclosed in the prior patent. While the cord is being knotted the cord feeding needle retracts from the loops of cord and the upper is pushed off the eyelet entering needles by an advancing movement of the looper fingers 30 until the laced upper is freed from the machine. Before the machine comes to rest, however, the eyelet entering needles are rotated through ninety degrees back to their alined positions of Fig. 3 and the cord feeding needle thereafter moves across the eyelet entering needles to reengage the cord with their throats. The looper fingers then retract, forming loops in the cord after which the needles are returned to their stationary positions forming a curved row, again ready for entry into a curved row of eyelets.

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and a particular embodiment having been described what it claimed is:

1. A machine for lacing shoe uppers having a row of parallel needles, means cooperating therewith to form a series of loops in a lacing cord, rotatable spindles to which the needles are clamped and mechanism for rotating each spindle between two positions at an angle to each other, in combination with mountings for the needles on the spindles in which each end needle of the row is disposed eccentrically to the centers of rotation of the respective spindles to bring the needles into a curved row when in one rotary position.

2. A machine for lacing shoe uppers having a row of parallel needles, means cooperating therewith to form a series of loops in a lacing cord, rotatable spindles to which the needles are clamped and mechanism for rotating each spindle between two positions at an angle to each other, in combination with mountings for the needles on the spindles in which each end needle of the row is disposed eccentrically to the centers of rotation of the respective spindles to bring the needles into a curved row when in one rotary position and means for deflecting the two end needles from their curved row positions back into alinement with the remainder of the row to enable lacing of the upper to be completed.

3. A machine for lacing shoe uppers having a row of parallel needles, means cooperating therewith to form a series of loops in a lacing cord, rotatable spindles in which the needles are clamped and mechanism for rotating the spindles through angles of approximately ninety degrees, in combination with mountings for the needles on the spindles in which certain needles of the row are disposed eccentrically to the centers of rotation of their spindles in a direction at right angles to the row of needles when the spindles are in one rotary position and in a direction in the plane of the needle row when the spindles are in the other rotary position.

4. A machine for lacing shoe uppers having a row of parallel needles, means cooperating therewith to form a series of loops in a lacing cord, rotatable spindles in which the needles are clamped and mechanism for rotating the spindles through angles of approximately ninety degrees, in combination with mountings for the needles on the spindles in which certain needles of the row are disposed eccentrically to the centers of rotation of their spindles in a direction at right angles to the row of needles when the spindles are in one rotary position and in a direction in the plane of the needle row when the spindles are in the other rotary position and a deflector acting on the needles at the ends of the row to bring them back into line with the remainder of the row when the spindles are disposed in the first mentioned rotary position.

ARTHUR ALAN RIVINGTON.

No references cited. 

